Marlene's True Passion
by Tripenguinman
Summary: Skipper is near death and Marlene's true love for him will shine, weather he lives or not.
1. Chapter 1

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER ONE

Skipper was reading the paper and using the bathroom. His eyes were irritated and red from crying that he had shielded from the team, especially Private. He had just been on a date with Marlene and he'd found out that she was cheating. She was meeting a guy in a back alley. He'd seen her sneak off when he gone under the fish bowl and took a glance back and decided to follow her and see what she was doing. She had crept through the sewers and come up in a back alley and met with another otter and she had been talking for a while in a soft voice which he only caught snatches of and then she had hugged him and pecked him on the cheek and Skipper had confronted her then. She denied it as Lola had and he slid off and to his bunk and cried.

He suddenly heard some come in and Marlene's voice. _My, gosh! _He thought. _Will she give it up?! _He continued reading the paper but only caught snatches of news because in the back of his mind, he wanted to hear what Marlene was saying. He heard Kowalski's educated voice and Private's British accent. He sighed as he heard Rico squawking too. They probably believed her. He'd be made the enemy. A tear dripped from his eye and he sniffed. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Occupied!" he barked

"Oh come out Skipper," said Marlene's muffled voice. "I can explain."

"Occupied!" he barked again.

"Oh for heaven's sake." he heard Kowalski say.

He heard something turning in the door knob and Marlene burst in.

"Marlene!!!!" he shouted, holding the paper in front of himself for no particular reason.

She had irritated, red eyes as well.

"Skipper!" she said "I can explain what you saw."

"I'm sure." Skipper said sarcastically.

"Look," she said "And listen to me!" she said as he started reading the paper again. He didn't listen so she tore it away from him.

"Hey!"

"LISTEN TO ME!" she shouted

"I'm just going to go." said Kowalski, nervously and fled.

"What?!" Skipper asked angrily.

"What you saw was not what it looked like." she said

Skipper folded his flippers.

"And why is that?" he asked

"I was not cheating on you! I was talking to that guy about something."

"Huh," said Skipper "And I suppose that kiss on the cheek was and accident."

She blushed red, with fury and embarrassment.

"I was thanking him!" she said matter-of-factly.

"Why? What did he do for you?" asked Skipper questioningly.

"Well- I do-," she began

"You can't tell me, huh? Well I have an idea so I-…" Skipper started to say but Marlene shouted: "IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY, THEN I'LL TELL YOU!!!!"

Skipper was taken aback by her outburst but she had his attention. She took a minute to calm down and then began talking.

"I didn't want to tell you this yet, and no comment!" she shouted as Skipper began to retort. "But I was getting you a present!"

Skipper opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He sat there on the toilet and stared at her. She stared back.

"A present?" he said finally, unsure.

"Yes," she said, softly now. "This."

She brought out a small wrapped box.

"I was going to surprise you on our next date and when you blew up; I went back and got it from him and-…" she was sniffling. "Just take it and I'll leave."

She turned to walk out when Skipper hopped up, spun her around, and planted his beak against her lips. They kissed for a few seconds and then Skipper pulled back.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," he said "I just-…"

"I don't want to here It." she said, smiling.

He smiled back and opened the present.

It was a golden chain and when you opened it, it had a picture of Skipper and Marlene together.

"It's beautiful." he said and kissed her again.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private walked in to see how things were going (because they hadn't heard yelling for a while and wondered if they had killed each other) and walked in on them kissing. Kowalski shielded Private's eyes and Rico "Aawwed." at them. They broke off and looked around, embarrassed. Kowalski unshielded Private's eyes. Private looked uncomfortable and everyone but Skipper knew why. Black lipstick was smeared over his beak where she had kissed him.

"How long have you be-…" they both said at the same time.

"Long enough." said Kowalski

"What does that mean?" asked Skipper, rubbing his beak feeling the stickiness and blushing.

Marlene giggled as he wiped it away, embarrassed.

"Well, I'll see you later, Skipper." she said, kissing him on the cheek.

She left after that.

"I see you have worked things out." observed Kowalski

"I guess." said Skipper


	2. Chapter 2

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER TWO

Skipper was tossing and turning in his bunk that night. He kept having strange dreams that he couldn't recall the next morning and sat with a mug of coffee and a fish, eyes bloodshot and baggy.

"Something wrong Skippa?" Private kept asking but Skipper always replied the same: "I'm fine."

Now it was becoming a shout. Private was like a son to Skipper, but he could be really annoying at times. Private asked again and Skipper blew up.

"I'M FINE, PRIVATE!!!! I JUST DIDN'T GET A LOT OF SLEEP!!!! OKAY!!!" he shouted

Private looked down at his feet. Skipper felt a little faint after using so much energy to scream. He stood up and looked down at Private sternly.

"Private, just leave me alone. I'm fine. I promise. Now go find something to do. Today's a day off."

"Right away Skippa!" said Private obediently and walked off.

Suddenly, Marlene burst through the fishbowl opening.

"Skipper!" she shouted excitedly, kissing him on the cheek. "You've gotta see this!"

He followed her out, wondering what she meant. Soon they were in front of a tower that stood about fifty tall. Another clock tower.

"Why do they have another?" he asked

"I don't know but it has a great view, come on!" she grabbed his flipper and pulled him forward and through a window that was open in the side of the building. He thought that he might not have heard them building because he was having nightmares but then again he would have gotten it in his morning briefing. Then he remembered that he had yelled at Private to leave me alone before he could give it.

They reached the top by elevator and stepped out on the balcony. The railings and banisters had not been finished and there were several open spots. Marlene dragged him toward one and he looked down. She was right. He could see the entire zoo. He suddenly felt faint from lack of sleep.

"Isn't romantic?" asked Marlene, dreamy eyed.

Skipper barely heard her. He was feeling to dizzy to pay any attention. He stumbled and fainted, and fell off the side.

He woke up as the cold morning air lashed his face. He screamed as he fell through the air and the ground got closer and closer. He twisted and turned through the air.

"DEAR GOD, HELP ME!!!!" he shouted over the wind.

He saw Marlene's horrified face as he turned on his back and stared into her eyes for a second before he connected with the ground and everything went black.

Marlene was rushing down the stairs, tears in her eyes. _PLEASE BE OKAY! PLEASE BE OKAY! _She thought_. _She began praying before she even reached the fifth floor. She tripped and rolled down the rest of the stairs. There was no staff yet, so there wasn't anyone to see. She landed at the bottom with a thud that knocked the breath out of her. She sat up and hopped out the window, despite being badly beaten and bruised. She saw Skipper on the ground, his eyes closed.

"GOD, PLEASE BE OKAY!!!!" she shouted

She ran to his side. One of his flippers was twisted at a sickening angle, his left leg seemed broken and he had a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. She did the first thing she could think of.

Mouth-to-mouth. He hadn't seemed to be breathing. She breathed into his mouth so hard that her lungs hurt. She saw that the lipstick was mixing with the blood. She breathed harder. He still was unmoving. She was having trouble because of her sobbing. Rico, Private, and Kowalski were running towards her. She breathed harder and harder. He still wasn't moving. With her last desperate breath, heaved in air and pushed it into his mouth. His chest rose… and stopped. She fell on him, sobbing uncontrollably. Suddenly his chest began to rise and fall. He was breathing! She sighed with relief but it was short lived. Now was the question weather he would survive, either internal bleeding or a broken spine.


	3. Chapter 3

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER THREE

Marlene supported Skipper's head, wondering what to do. The others stared on in horror. The lemurs had joined and even King Julian had nothing to say. Skipper was breathing but only just. His eyes suddenly fluttered and opened. They were glazed for a second and the he gasped.

"Aaaaahhhh," he groaned "Marlene, what happened?"

"Skipper, are you okay?!" she asked desperately.

Skipper coughed horribly for what seemed like hours. He started to answer but passed out before he could get a word out. Marlene covered her eyes as started sobbing. Private finally waddled over to her started patting her shoulder, trying to comfort her. Kowalski pulled out his abacus and started making calculations. He gasped when he got the answer.

"Uh- Marlene," he said uncertainly. "I have come up with what the odds are that Skipper will survive, and there is- uh- slim to none that he will live."

Marlene sobbed harder and Rico elbowed Kowalski in the ribs. Skipper kept twitching and stirring like he wanted wake up but couldn't.

"What do we do?" Marlene finally whispered.

"Well, I don't think I can fix him but we could leave him in front of the zoo hospital." answered Kowalski

She didn't answer for a few minutes and then she finally raised her head and looked at them.

"If we have to." she said and bent over and kissed his beak.

Rico and Kowalski lifted Skipper off the ground and carried to the zoo hospital.

"We'll just leave." said Kowalski

Marlene bent over him and kissed him again and started praying. The Zoo wasn't open yet so no one saw her.

"Dear heavenly father, please," she said please about forty times. "Please, let Skipper live. If you have to take me, do it."

She kissed him again and stood and left. The walk to her habitat was slow and quiet. None of the animals said anything as she passed by, sniffling and sobbing. She finally climbed over the wall and lay down on her bed and fell into a depressed sleep.

Things were quiet in the penguins' habitat as well. They sat around, sniffling themselves. They tried to sleep in their bunks, but the sight of Skipper's empty one, kept them from sleep. Kowalski tried to busy himself with his shrink ray but couldn't get his mind off Skipper. Rico tried watching an action movie with lots of explosions (and even tried making some himself) but couldn't concentrate. Private tried to listen to the radio but he couldn't concentrate either.

Skipper woke up and looked around. _Where am I?_ He thought. He tried to sit up, but couldn't support himself. His flipper was burning with pain and his leg was aching horribly. There was a stabbing pain in the center of his back as he tried to stand. He felt weak. Soon the doctor walked by and gasped. He cradled Skipper over his shoulder and took him in the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER FOUR

Marlene was tossing and turning for hours. She heard the people yell for the otter to come out, but she ignored them. She was in no mood to entertain them. She kept thinking about Skipper's face. Twisted in pain, eyes closed, blood trickling out of his beak. Kowalski had said that he had slim to zero chance of living. He was in so much pain. He had tried to tell her something. What? She was tortured by the thought.

When the day had ended, she got out of bed and went to the zoo hospital. She opened a window and hopped in. She went looking in each cage to see where Skipper was being held. She finally found him. His body was straightened out but they still had not done anything to the source of blood that was dribbling down his beak. His flipper and stumpy leg were in splints and his back was splinted as well. So his spine was broken.

She opened the cage and touched his face as tears began welling up in her red eyes. She touched the broken bones and felt how soft they were. They were usually strong and stout, the muscles built up from intensive training. She saw the rise and fall of his usually puffed out chest, but now it was down and looked almost weak. He looked so helpless. She saw his eyelids twitching in pain.

"Marlene-…" he said in his sleep.

"What is it Skipper." she said, her heart leaping.

"Marlene…" he kept saying as he twisted about. "Marlene, please…"

"What is it Skipper? What?" she said, leaning over him.

She pressed her breast against his chest. He twisted, he twitched violently.

"Marlene, I need to tell you…" he said and began breathing hard.

"Skipper, what is it? What do you need to tell me?" she sobbed

"Marlene, I need to- to…" he said and stopped.

She sobbed over him. Once again, he couldn't tell her what he wanted to tell her. Then he suddenly burst up.

"MARLENE I LOVE YOU!!!!" he shouted and pressed his beak hard against her lips and fell motionless on the cage floor.

She stared at him in shock and then pressed her head against his.

"OH SKIPPER, I LOVE YOU TOO!!!!" she shouted

Private woke up and went to see Skipper. His eyes were wet and puffy from crying. Would he live? He saw a window open and hopped through it. He walked by the cage until he saw Skipper lying in a cage, and Marlene, crying in her sleep, cuddled to his body.


	5. Chapter 5

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER FIVE

"Marlene," said Private "What are you doing here?"

She looked at him, her eyes swollen and red.

"Private, what are **you** doing here?" she asked

"I came to see Skipper and I see you have to." he said

She sniffled and looked back at Skipper. He was looking awful.

"He's sick." she said, feeling his forehead.

She looked exhausted as she laid her head on his chest and sat, looking miserable.

"How is he?" asked Private, coming closer.

"How does he look?!" Marlene hissed, angrily.

Private was taken aback by the sudden acid in her tone and her hard look. The look softened.

"I'm sorry, Private," she said "I'm just angry with myself for making this happen."

"What?!" asked Private, startled.

"I should have known by the tried look on his face that he would faint, and I took him up there where he'd be in danger. It's my fault."

"NO!!!!" shouted Private, suddenly "You didn't do a thing. It was not your fault."

Marlene was stunned. She had never seen Private like this.

"You are not to blame. Now we must take care of him. They have done all they can do. WE MUST HELP HIM NOW!!!!" Private shouted with all his heart.

Marlene didn't say anything at first and then nodded. They lifted him up and carried him to the penguin habitat where they lay him on the table. He kept twitching and turning. The others were awakened by his moaning. He was almost screaming in his sleep. He kept tightening his face and jerking as if he was having a seizure. They took his temperature. He had a horrible fever. He was really sick. His feathers were wet with sweat and he opened his eyes several times and yelped and went back under. Marlene was crying that night, lying in Skipper's bunk, while listening to his fevered screams. He kept shouting things like: "Marlene", "No", and "Need to-…". He never finished any of them and as Marlene lay looking toward him suffering on the table, she tried to turn over and not look but she couldn't make herself do it.

Each scream that he let out, was like a knife in her heart. She closed her burning eyes and tried to go to sleep, but couldn't sleep on the fact that Skipper was dying. Kowalski kept recalculating the chance that Skipper would survive and always came up with none. Rico groaned and sat in the corner with a box of "coca puffs" and his doll. Private kept placing new wet rags on Skipper's head and checking the time. What wasn't spent doing this, he cried. Her eyelids were heavy but she couldn't sleep. She tried to yield to sleep but couldn't. Skipper jerked so hard at times, that he fell off the table and Rico would heave him back up and then cuddle his doll.

He offered her some of his "coca puffs" but she wasn't hungry. She could only think about Skipper. She tried to think of other things but nothing came that could take the place of him. She couldn't forget how he had said he loved her. She sniffled at the thought and slowly drifted off to sleep as exhaustion set in.


	6. Chapter 6

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER SIX

The night passed slowly. They all tried to sleep but found it impossible. Marlene was tortured the most by the screaming and yelling, Skipper wasn't getting any better but, worse. She submitted to exhaustion at about 1'o'clock. She then had the worst dream of her life. She woke up in the nightmare on Skipper's bunk. It was dark. The other penguins were gone. No one was there except her and a figure lying on the table. She walked over to the figure and saw that it was Skipper.

He was laying there motionless. She shook him, trying to wake him up. He wouldn't wake. She then saw the note at his feet. She walked around the table and picked it up.

_Dear Marlene,_

_By now I am dead. The other penguins went their separate ways and the zoo has been abandon. New York is gone and you are maybe the last of your species. I am writing to you because I have something to tell you. Whatever I did while I was alive that may have shown it, I never loved you. You were actually the worst person I ever had the displeasure to know. I had my own reasons for pretending to love you that soon led to my own death. I only got close to you because I was getting information in a complicated way to where Dr. Blowhole was. I'm not sorry at all for what I did but here's some advice: next time, choose your friends and lovers better._

_Skipper_

Tears formed in her eyes. She didn't feel mad, but depressed. She bent over Skippers dead body and looked at his face. He had only been pretending. She got mad then. She shoved the body off the table and left out the fishbowl entrance and ran to her habitat. She saw that there was litter all over the ground and the sky was a gray color. She got to her habitat, which was dirty and had been taken care of for years.

She curled up in her bed and cried. She cried for hours. She had loved Skipper and thought that he loved her back. But he hadn't. He was only pretending and hadn't minded breaking her heart. She lay there with a picture of Skipper that she had no idea where she got and cried. But suddenly she woke up. She looked around. The other penguins were asleep in their bunks. She realized that her fur was covered in sweat. She hopped down and looked at the table. Skipper wasn't there! She looked all around the HQ but couldn't find him. He was gone! She moved the fishbowl aside and popped her head outside, and there he was. Sitting on the edge of the water.

"Skipper?" she said, hopping out.

"Marlene?" he said turning around.

He looked strong again. His wounds were still there but his chest puffed out again and he was standing tall. He winced a little from his broken leg, but stood anyway. She ran forward and threw herself in his arms. His strong grip held her close.

"Oh, Skipper!" she shouted, crying so hard she could barely stand up. "I thought you were going to die-…"

"Die?" he asked, his voice wavering with tears. "I'll always be with you."

He then pressed his beak against her lips. He held her against him and tightened his strong flippers. She wrapped her arms around him to and then the kiss ended too soon.

"I thought I'd lost you." she said, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Lost me?" he asked, taking her chin in his flipper and bringing her face, close to his. "I'll always be with you, dead or not, here."

He touched her breast where her heart was. Then kissed her again.


	7. Chapter 7

MARLENE'S TRUE PASSION

CHAPTER SEVEN

Marlene woke up suddenly. It was morning. She was curled up to Skipper's chest. He was breathing silently. He was asleep as well. She realized that her head was on his broken flipper and she eased herself off. Judging by the soon, it was about 6'o'clock. They must have fallen asleep at some point. Skipper suddenly began mumbling. She got closer to hear it, and then he said it out loud.

"On my mark men, roll!"

He rolled over and she was now facing his back.

She smiled and decided to go her habitat. She kissed his cheek and then walked off to her habitat. She lay down in her bed, and fell quickly asleep, knowing Skipper would be fine.


End file.
